2019-06-13 Thu

The Central Bank of Venezuela has started circulating new banknotes of 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 bolívar denominations from today. In August 2018, the Venezuelan government had truncated five zeroes from its national currency to tackle the problem of rising inflation. Since then, people started relying heavily on digital payment methods like credit and debit cards which overloaded digital platforms. Even after these measures, inflation continued to rise in Venezuela.

The Government now hopes that the new notes will lead to improved and more efficient transactions. The value of the latest 50,000 bolívar note is more than the monthly minimum wage of 40,000 bolívars. The highest denomination banknote released last year was 500 Bolivars, which has almost become worthless now.

It is believed that inflation in Venezuela touched 815,000% in May. The Government blames the US sanctions for this economic downfall while the opposition claims that the government mismanaged billions of dollars in oil revenue.

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